Dribbling

The articles on this page aim to help you coach your players in the fine art of dribbling – running with the ball at their feet, beating players with their skill and pace. This is one of the core skills of the game and we look at the fine details of the techniques required to dribble like Ronaldo or Stanley Matthews. We show you some games and exercises to help your players become master dribblers.

Breakout! - This is a drill designed to improve dribbling skills and get players to keep their head up at the same time. It's easy to set up and fun to do. You need every player to have a ball and as many cones as players.

Get your wingers dribbling - If you reckon your wide men's dribbling skills could do with some polishing up, there are several areas you can work on to improve effectiveness.

Get Inside the Mechanics of Dribbling -
If your players understand the basics of dribbling, then it's time to teach them to evade tackles and use fake moves to open up defences,

How to Coach Your Players to Beat Opponents - Getting players to use skills is hard enough, sorting out the best ones is even harder. So we asked Tony Rock, a Fulham FC in the community coach, who reckons every player should have at least three turns in their armoury that will help them withstand pressure and create space to pass, shoot or dribble.

Three kicking tips for pitch and weather conditions - Kicking tips for rain, wind and long grass

Dribbling technique for wingers - How to use your wingers to stretch defences.

Football drill to develop dribbling the ball skills -
Coaching young players to look up when they are dribbling the ball is not easy. However many times you tell them to do it, they will keep looking at the ball. These football coaching tips and small-sided game are helpful for correcting this habit.